There's no way the Pacers do that deal: Paul George is the future face of the franchise! I think he's the most untouchable player on the team and trading him with also a 1st round pick of one of the deepest draft in history? This is asking to be robbed!

This said, the Pacers don't really need Mo Williams, they already have Collison and George Hill to backup with AJ Price as a decent third option. They also don't need Pietrus if it is to have him take Paul George's spot.... All in all, the Pacers won't be moving Paul George this year, that's for sure, and I'd think they're pretty happy with the depth they have right now.

horrible trade why would indy even consider this trade? They are giving up the future face of the franchise and most likely future all start AND their first round pick in a draft where the 15-20 pick could be a decent player for MO WILLIAMS. And personally i would rather have collison at point for indy in the playoffs than williams

“I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing,” LeGrand replied, and that’s part of reason why the exact opposite has happened. LeGrand continues to inspire, in big and small ways, in New Jersey and around the world.

Lou Lamoriello (5): The best general manager in the business was back in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Devils before losing in six games to the Los Angeles Kings. Now he faces another challenge: replacing Zach Parise.

Woody Johnson (4): His Jets sure are interesting. But after 12 years of ownership, the franchise doesn’t appear any closer to that elusive second Super Bowl title, even with the most famous backup quarterback in the world.

Kirilenko's presence was immediate, infusing the starting group with deft passing and defensive tenacity that the Wolves will sorely need with Ricky Rubio expected miss at least the first six weeks while recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.p[89po89

Training camp isn’t the only growth Irving has undergone since last season ended, however. He also spent some time in Las Vegas over the summer with the USA Select Team training with other All-Stars and All-Stars-to-be. After that, he was supposed to remain in Vegas to play with Cleveland’s Summer League team, so his time there would have been even more productive had he not lashed out at a wall in frustration during a practice, injuring his hand bad enough to keep him from pairing with rookie Dion Waiters in league competition. Despite the setback, Irving was still able to pick a few things up while in Nevada.mgfjhfgy

It’s easy to laugh now, but this season should still prove to be a challenging one even with some added talent and another year of growth from Irving. There’s a lot of youth on this team—and there could be even more should Anderson Varejao end up getting traded at some point as expected—so expectations for the Cavs are still understandably tempered.fasefaed

It was a frustrating time for Evans, the vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, and the rest of the NBPA’s executive committee. However, after 160 stressful days, the two sides would agree to a deal and ratify a new collective bargaining agreement to save the 2011-12 NBA season.868768

And then in Tuesday's 114-81 win over Israeli Super League team Maccabi Bazan Haifa, it began to make sense. There was visible chemistry, and the combinations kept on coming. The likely opening-night starters – Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Brandon Roy, Luke Ridnour and Andrei Kirilenko – played in tandem for the first time, and suddenly, it evolved from awkward to enjoyable.

“I think I’ve been the only guy [on this team] who’s been cut from their high school team, their professional team, an overseas team,” Green said. “It’s crazy, but I was cut from my high school team, but I was a McDonald’s All-American. I got drafted first round by Boston, a first-round pick, but I was cut from the NBA twice, and I was just cut by the Rockets. Then I went overseas for three years and was cut. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve been cut, and I played in the D-League twice.”

“It was good playing with Tyler as a power forward and he was playing center,” Varejao said. “He is a smart player. He knows how to move around the basket. He knows if I am rolling, he has to replace me and if I am popping, he knows he has to roll and stuff like that.”

“I told the players that I’m going to use the entire month to try and focus and find the right fit for this team,” Smart said. “I used Tyreke in training camp at the one, two and three. So I’m going to look and focus on what group of players can fit together and not over-step each other. But Tyreke was by far our best defensive player on our team during training camp. So I’m looking forward to him being able to fill multiple roles for our team.”otyi756754

“As we’re speaking, I’m getting ready to put together a tape from where we were last year, and how he performed defensively, to what he’s done in training camp,” Smart said. “The guy has shown that he wants to commit to that side of the ball. He came in camp in great shape, did a great job in everything we were doing and wants to take the next step. He’s got to be consistent in his play every night. I said to him that he should be an all-defensive player.gfdsfase32

“What I’ve tried to do, one, from talking to them all throughout training camp, is I’m looking for our team to develop, for our team to have the right kind of chemistry, which is going to help us win,” Smart said. “I used different lineups in camp. I said the goal for us is for our team to succeed more so than any of you individuals. We have to buy into that if we’re going to win, and you guys communicated to me that you want to win, it’s going to take an abundance of sacrifices for our team to have a great, winning season. You guys have to make a decision that that’s the way we’re going and you can handle it. If not, you know where my office is. You can come talk to me and say, ‘Hey Coach, I can’t handle this. Can you and Geoff do something to change my address?’”8968956785

The right knee of Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been problematic for him this preseason. He’s battling persistent swelling that could be fixed with arthroscopic knee surgery, but that would keep him out anywhere from three-to-six weeks.

“I’m doing everything I can not to have surgery,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks’ 123-104 victory on Monday night. “I guess that’s obvious that I really don’t want it done now. If I want to do it, I would love to do it after the season, get through the season somehow, but the swelling came back three or four times now. That’s obviously not good news.9o689686

Of course, it all comes down to what the Mavericks’ physicians feel is the right choice. If they feel he can last through a tolling NBA season, then he should pass. However, if they feel the operation is in his best interest, by no means is it a blow he and the Mavericks can’t recover from. In fact, it could be one that makes them better down the line as a result.vbsdfasd

What We Learned From the Preseason: The Atlantic Division is not going to be a friendly place to play this season, but the Raptors are about a million percent more interesting than they were a year ago. Kyle Lowry really is as good as advertised, DeMar DeRozan is scoring the ball way more efficiently than he’s accustomed to doing, Andrea Bargnani is reminding us how good he can be when he’s healthy and rookies Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross are both already showing flashes of something interesting. But, as mentioned earlier, the Atlantic is a tough place to play, and issues of health and youth could potentially hold this group back. They looked sharper than expected in the preseason, but there’s still a need for quite a bit of growth if they hope to the make the playoffs this year. And, for the record, they might be the sneakiest good team in the conference.

The Toronto Raptors traveled to Rama, Ontario on Sunday to put on an intrasquad scrimmage game at the Casino Rama Entertainment Center. It was to be a fun filled afternoon for the fans that raised some money for the Raptors’ charity, the MLSE Team Up Foundation, and let the team get in a little more work prior to the start of the season on Wednesday.

“In respect to our conversations with James Harden, I think it’s pretty well documented that those conversations began in July, we worked incredibly hard at that and put our best foot forward for that. I think we’re pretty transparent, we didn’t know exactly what the end game would be, we knew that there was mutual interest in trying to find a common ground. But at the end of the day, we unfortunately weren’t able to meet. Through that process, our ownership group was nothing short of spectacular, I want to emphasize that. They put us in a position to make several substantial, they’ve supported our players, they’ve supported our staff in every way imaginable and this was no different than any other situation that we’ve been in with this group.